2010 Whitney Biennial

As expected, the 2010 Whitney Biennial was a subdued affair. Whereas the art in years past was all sloppiness and pink neon, this year the pieces seemed more human-scale and approachable. Our two favorites showed photography at its extremes: the ability of pictures to falsify reality in the most beautiful way, as in Pae White's woven cotton tapestry based on an image of smoke, and the ability of photographs to starkly, realistically document, as in Nina Berman's important series about an Iraqi war veteran. Neither requires much commentary, in part because each work does exactly what it sets out to do, powerfully and quietly.

Photos: Pae White, Smoke Knows, 2009 by Fredrik Nilsen; Nina Berman, Ty with Gun, 2008, both courtesy of the Whitney